The semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) industry has experienced rapid growth. Technological advances in IC materials and design have produced generations of ICs where each generation has smaller and more complex circuits than the previous generation. In the course of integrated circuit evolution, functional density (i.e., the number of interconnected devices per chip area) has generally increased while geometry size (i.e., the smallest component or line that can be created using a fabrication process) has decreased. When the width of a conductive line becomes smaller, the unit-length resistance of the conductive line becomes greater. Also, when the number of memory cells in a memory circuit increases, the lengths and corresponding resistance of data lines (such as bit lines) and control lines (such as word lines) of the memory circuit increases. In many applications, an operating speed of a memory circuit is determinable based on the resistance of bit lines and/or word lines thereof.